Buddhism for Today, p102-104What happens to us after death? Buddhism teaches that we remain for some time in the state of intermediate existence (chū-u) in this world after death, and when this time is over, in accordance with the karma that we have accumulated in our previous life, we are reborn in another appropriate world. Buddhism also divides this other world into the following ten realms: hell (jigoku), hungry spirits (gaki), animals (chikushō), demons (shura), human beings (ningen), heaven (tenjō), śrāvakas (shōmon), pratyekabuddhas (engaku), bodhisattvas (bosatsu), and buddhas (butsu).
If we die in an unenlightened state, our souls will return to the former state of ignorance, will be reborn in the six worlds (rokudō) of illusion and suffering, and will finally reach old age and death through the twelve stages discussed above. And we will repeat this round to the end of time. This perpetual repetition of birth and death is called transmigration (rinne). But if we purify our souls by hearing the Buddha’s teachings and practicing the bodhisattva-way, the state of ignorance is annihilated, and our souls can be reborn in a better world. The expression “to cut the causes” applies to this state.
Category Archives: LS32
Day 9
Day 9 covers Chapter 5, The Simile of Herbs, and introduces Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood.
Having last month heard the assurance of future buddhahood for Mahā-Kāśyapa, we conclude today’s portion of Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood, with the famished man and the king’s supper.
Thereupon Great Maudgalyāyana, Subhūti and Mahā-Kātyāyana trembled, joined their hands together with all their hearts, looked up at the World-Honored One with unblenching eyes, and sang in gāthās in unison:
Great Hero, World-Honored One!
King of the Dharma of the Śākyas!
Give us your voice
Out of your compassion towards us!
If you see what we have deep in our minds,
And assure us of our future Buddhahood,
We shall feel as cool and as refreshed
As if we were sprinkled with nectar.Suppose a man came
From a country suffering from famine.
Now he saw the meal of a great king.
He did not partake of it in doubts and fears.
After he was told to take it by the king,
He took it at once.
We are like that man.
We know the defects of the Lesser Vehicle.
But we do not know how to obtain
The unsurpassed wisdom of the Buddha.Although we hear you say [to us],
“You will become Buddhas,”
We are still in doubts and fears about it,
Just as that man was about the meal.
If you assure us of our future Buddhahood,
We shall be happy and peaceful.You, the Great Hero, the World-Honored One,
Wish to give peace to all the people of the world.
If you assure us of our future Buddhahood, we shall be
Like the man who was permitted to take the meal.
See Reciprocal Bonds
Day 8
Day 8 concludes Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, and closes the second volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month considered the expedient used by the father to attract his son in gāthās, we witness the son receive his inheritance in gāthās.
The son was entrusted
With the keeping of the accounts
Of gold and silver,
And of pearl, crystal, and so on.
But he still lodged
In the hut outside the gate, thinking:
“I am poor.
None of these treasures are mine.”Seeing the mind of his son
Becoming less mean and more noble,
The father called in
His relatives, the king, ministers,
Kṣatriyas, and householders,
In order to give his treasures to his son.He said to the great multitude:
“This is my son.
He was gone
For fifty years.
I found him Twenty years ago.
I missed him
When I was in a certain city.
I wandered, looking for him,
And came here.
Now I will give him
All my houses and men.
He can use them
As he likes.”The son thought:
“I was poor, base and mean.
Now I have obtained
The treasures, houses,
And all the other things From my father.
Never before
Have I been so happy.”
Maintaining Faith and Discernment
Buddhism for Today, p71[After abandoning a servile spirit,] the second mental attitude that we learn from chapter 4 is to maintain both faith and discernment toward the Lotus Sutra. Without both, we cannot fly surely to the Buddha’s arms. We are liable to deviate from the right course, either to a wrong one or to a blind alley in human life. If this should happen to us, we need to read the Lotus Sutra over again. In that way we can be sure of finding the way to return our lives to the right course, because the Lotus Sutra includes teachings that are applicable to people in all situations; we can come to our senses by beginning with any portion of the sutra. This is how we can escape from blind alleys in human life.
Day 7
Day 7 concludes Chapter 3, A Parable, and begins Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith.
Having last month considered the punishments to be given to those who slander the sutra, we conclude today’s portion of Chapter 3, A Parable.(The Buddha said to Śāriputra:)
A kalpa will not be long enough to describe
The punishments to be inflicted
Upon those who slander this sūtra.Therefore,
I tell you.
Do not expound this sūtra
To people of no wisdom!Expound it to clever people
Who have profound wisdom,
Who hear much,
Who remember well,
And who seek
The enlightenment of the Buddha!Expound it to those who have seen
Many thousands of myriads
Of millions of Buddhas
And planted the roots of good
In their previous existence,
And who are now resolute in mind!Expound it
To those who make efforts,
Who have compassion towards others,
And who do not spare their lives!Expound it to those
Who respect others,
Who have no perfidy in them,
Who keep away from ignorant people,
And who live alone
In mountains or valleys!Śāriputra!
Expound it to those
Who keep away
From evil friends,
And who approach
Good friends!Expound it to the Buddha’s sons
Who keep the precepts
As cleanly and as purely
As they keep gems,
And who seek
The sūtra of the Great Vehicle!Expound it to those
Who are not angry
But upright, gentle,
Compassionate
Towards all others,
And respectful to the Buddhas!Expound it to the Buddha’s sons
Who expound the Dharma without hindrance
To the great multitude
With their pure minds
By telling them
Various stories of previous lives,
Parables and similes,
And also by giving them various discourses!Expound it to the bhikṣus
Who seek the Dharma in all directions
In order to obtain
The knowledge of all things,
Who join their hands together
Towards the sūtra of the Great Vehicle,
Who receive it respectfully,
Who keep it with joy,
And who do not receive
Even a gāthā of any other sūtra!Expound it to those
Who seek this sūtra
As eagerly as they seek
The śarīras of the Buddha![Expound it to those]
Who receive [this sūtra]
And put it on their heads,
And who do not seek
Any other sūtra
Or think of the books of heresy!(The Buddha said to Śāriputra:)
Those who seek the enlightenment of the Buddha
Are as various as previously stated.
A kalpa will not be long enough
To describe the variety of them.
They will be able to understand [this sūtra] by faith.
Expound to them
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma!
The Living Dharma Flower Sutra
The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p191-192None of these five items radically affirmed by the Dharma Flower Sutra – Shakyamuni Buddha, this world, the Dharma Flower Sutra itself, those who embrace and follow the Sutra, and the bodhisattva way – should be understood as being static or unchanging. All are alive and dynamic or they are nothing. All are in processes of learning and growth and change, often through enduring trials and suffering. This can be seen as an extension of the very basic Buddhist idea that all things are related and interdependent, always coming to be by being dependent on others.
It may seem strange to say that the Dharma Flower Sutra is alive, but what we mean by that is that unless the Sutra is somehow embodied and brought to life in the actual lives of someone, unless it makes a real difference in the actual lives of people, it amounts to nothing at all, or at least to no more than a dead book on some shelves. The Sutra does not spread itself. Its spread depends on Dharma teachers, human beings – on all of us.
Daily Dharma – Jan. 25, 2021
The Nirvāṇa we attained was
Only part of the immeasurable treasures of yours.
We were like a foolish man with no wisdom.
We satisfied ourselves with what little we had attained.
Five hundred of the Buddha’s monks give this explanation in Chapter Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. They had spent all of their time with the Buddha working to rid themselves of suffering. While this is a remarkable achievement, it does not compare to the true purpose of the Buddha’s teaching. When these monks heard the Buddha teach the Lotus Sutra, and understood that their true purpose was to benefit others, they realized that their earlier practice was preparation. By remaining preoccupied with suffering, they had lost sight of the treasure of enlightenment.
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Day 6
Day 6 continues Chapter 3, A Parable
Having last month considered the poisonings, killings and burnings that filled the house, we consider the expedient the rich man used to get his children to flee the burning house.At that time the house-owner
Was standing outside the gate.
He heard a man say to him:
“Some time ago
Your children entered this house to play.
They are young and ignorant.
They are engrossed in playing.”
Hearing this,
The rich man was frightened.
He rushed into the burning house.In order to save them
From burning to death,
He told them
Of the dangers of the house:
“There are demons and poisonous vermin here.
Flames have already spread all over.
Many sufferings are coming
One after another endlessly.
There are poisonous snakes,
Lizards, vipers,
Yakṣas, kumbhanda demons,
Small foxes, foxes, dogs,
Crested eagles, eagles,
Kites, owls and centipedes here.
They are unbearably hungry and thirsty.
They are dreadful.
These sufferings are difficult to avoid.
Worse still, there is a big fire.”Though the children heard his warning,
They were still engrossed in playing.
They did not stop playing
Because they were ignorant.The rich man
Thought:
“They are ignorant.
My anxiety deepens
There is nothing pleasant
In this house.
But they are engrossed
In playing.
They do not listen to me.
They will be burned to death.”At the time
He thought of an expedient.
He said to them:
“I have many kinds of toys.
They are beautiful carts
Made of wonderful treasures.
They are sheep-carts, deer-carts,
And large bullock-carts.
They are outside the gate.
Come out!
I made those carts
For you.
Play with them
As you like!”
Day 5
Day 5 begins Chapter 3, A Parable
Having last month repeated in gāthās Śāriputra’s understanding that the Buddha expounds the Dharma according to the capacities of all living beings, we consider Śāriputra’s fear that the Buddha was Mara in disguise.In the midst of the great multitude,
You said to me, “You will become a Buddha.”
Hearing this truthful voice,
All my doubts are gone.When I had heard this from you,
I was much frightened and perplexed; I thought:
“The Buddha troubles me.
Isn’t he Mara in the form of a Buddha?”You skillfully expound the Dharma with various parables and similes,
And with various stories of previous lives.
Now my mind is as peaceful as the sea.
Hearing you, I have removed the mesh of doubts.You said:
“The innumerable Buddhas in the past
Expounded the Dharma with expedients.
The numberless Buddhas at present
Also expound the Dharma
With expedients.
So will the countless Buddhas
In the future.”You appeared in this world,
Left your home, attained enlightenment,
And now turn the wheel of the Dharma,
Also with expedients.You expound the true teaching;
Papiyas does not.
Therefore, I know
That you are not a transformation of Mara.
I thought that the Dharma was expounded by Mara
Because I was in the mesh of doubts.I hear your gentle voice.
Your voice is deep and wonderful.
You expound the Pure Dharma.
My heart is filled with great joy.
All my doubts are gone.
I have obtained true wisdom.I shall become a Buddha without fail.
I shall be respected by gods and men.
I will turn the wheel of the unsurpassed Dharma,
And teach Bodhisattvas.
See Nourishment
Nourishment
The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p62[Shariputra] is nourished from the Buddha’s mouth. Just as inheritance is not only biological, nourishment is not only physical, but mental and spiritual as well. Where should we look for mental and spiritual nourishment? We should not, I believe, think that because we are Buddhists or followers of the Dharma Flower Sutra our spiritual nourishment must always come from the Dharma Flower Sutra or from Buddhist sources alone. One of the wonderful things about the Lotus Sutra, as we will see when looking at the simile of the plants, is its recognition that the Buddha Dharma nourishes the whole world, not just Buddhists.
One way of understanding this, then, is to imagine that the Buddha can speak to us and nourish us in innumerable ways. In other words, anything at all, if we penetrate into it deeply enough, can be a revelation to us of Buddha Dharma. No matter how good or bad a person or situation or thing may be, it can be something from which we can learn; if we are open to it, we can find in it something of great value.